Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf government is in trouble. It is stuck with a tough economic situation ever since it came into power. As politely as one can say, the economic policies of the incumbent government are not working nor producing the desired results. Pakistan’s growth rate is now at historical lows, around 3.3% and the government has admitted that it will grow only at the rate of 2.4% over the next 12 months. Balance of payment problem still looms large despite getting support from China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

PTI government has presented several mini-budgets since it came to power in August. It has frequently revised tariff rates for gas and electricity upwards, jacked up prices of petrol, utility and healthcare items. A government desperate to collect revenues has introduced the amnesty scheme, but despite lots of public fear, most people are not stepping forward. Key functionaries, including the prime minister himself, are on record – before coming to power – that they will hunt down each and everyone who benefited from Amnesty schemes of earlier governments.

It is thus no wonder that few trust the government’s commitments. The dollar rose from 127 to 164, and still, no one can guarantee where it will finally rest. Apparently, the dollar was far higher than the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), now many are not ready to buy the idea that rupee is still overvalued, however, till this moment, the exchange rate market is not stabilizing; it is being ruled by insecurities, fears, and various speculations.

Given this situation, the Imran Khan’s governments, is becoming more and more unpopular with those who did not vote for it and its supporters are getting less and less enthusiastic. Currently, the premier is surrounded by the non-elected members or the ones who had jumped the ship onto PTI bandwagon from other parties before the 2018 elections. Forget about the people who had been with Premier Khan for the last 20 odd years, the ones who were with him for the past five years ago are not being seen anywhere in the new picture. Few exceptions are Murad Saeed, Faisal Vawda, Zulfiqar Bukhari, etc.

Business community feels that the government sounds more desperate than directional. And through its shrill rhetoric has empowered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and Sindh Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in a way that has never been done in the past quarter-century.

Government’s focus remains only on collecting taxes. It has set itself an almost impossible target of Rs. 5500 billion collections – 40 percent more than this year. But is unable to deal with reducing government expenditures and losses by state-owned enterprises, PIA, Steel Mills, Discos, Pakistan Railways and scores of other public sector entities are eating away around Rs. 1100 to Rs. 1300 billion each year, and installed capacity agreements with IPPs are putting up a bill of almost Rs. 500 billion much higher than the actual production or consumption. In 10 months, the PTI government has shown little resolve or even will to do anything to tackle this bleeding.

On the contrary, while having Sanjrani – who really deserves praise for the impartial and graceful manner in which he has been presiding over the Upper House proceedings – replaced with Mir Hasil Bizenjo, the opposition’s candidate, would not move heaven and earth in terms of political control it would certainly mark the first step towards mounting pressure on the PTI-led government.

Beside that PPP and PML-N require effective secondary leadership within their ranks; they need a leadership which is untainted of corruption allegations that can do issue-based politics and provide some solutions to the economic mess. This new leadership should also be in a position to cooperate with the government on essential things in the larger interest of the public and the nation, such as privatization of state-owned enterprises, negotiations with the IPPs, dealing with the IMF and FATF.